Misplaced Pages

#863136

71-826: In October 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny and his dragoons with their scout Kit Carson found the route over the mountains from the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro on the Rio Grande , via the Santa Rita mines to the Gila River which he then followed to the Colorado River, at the Yuma Crossing where he crossed the river and then the Colorado Desert to Southern California . This

142-610: A dishonorable discharge , but President James K. Polk quickly commuted Frémont's sentence due to services he had rendered over his career. Frémont resigned his commission in disgust and settled in California. In 1847 Frémont purchased the Rancho Las Mariposas , a large land grant in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite , which proved to be rich in gold. Frémont was later elected one of

213-662: A claim before a commission for adjudication. Approvals were automatically appealed by the federal government to the federal courts, as far as the United Supreme Court. A claim for Rancho La Puente was filed with the Public Land Commission in Fall 1852 when the commission held proceedings in Los Angeles, but after the land commission approved the claim two years later, the government appealed to

284-528: A party of forty-niners in late 1849. This route avoided the long distance traveled to the south by passing through Stein's Pass , Apache Pass and Nugent’s Pass , then down Tres Alamos Wash to the Lower Crossing of the San Pedro River below Tres Alamos . From there it linked up with Cooke's Wagon Road at a waterhole, near modern Mescal . In 1856, a Railroad Survey Expedition modified

355-564: A professional soldier's soldier, and he "may have been the only general in the Mexican War who did not long to become president. Kearny is the namesake of Kearny, Arizona and Kearney, Nebraska . Kearny, New Jersey near Kearny's place of birth, is named after his nephew, Philip Kearny, Jr. of American Civil War fame. Many schools are named after Kearny, including Kearny Elementary in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Kearny High School in

426-535: A temporary shelter through the winter of 1841-42 and then constructed an adobe the following summer, believed to have been three rooms. The adobe was expanded to ten rooms in two southward-facing wings by 1856 and then remodeled with the addition of brick rooms at the corners and on a new second floor, this work being completed by 1870. Workman, also a highly successful cattle rancher and farmer, entered business activities (real estate, oil, and banking, among others) with his son-in-law, Francisco P. Temple (F. P. F.), and

497-506: A wet December 6, 1846 day Kearny's forces encountered Andrés Pico (Californio Governor Pio Pico 's brother) and a force of about 150 Californio Lancers . With most of his men mounted on weary untrained mules, his command executed an uncoordinated attack of Pico's force. They found most of their powder wet and pistols and carbines would not fire. They soon found their mules and cavalry sabers were poor defense against Californio Lancers mounted on well-trained horses. Kearny's column, along with

568-584: Is set in 1848 with the establishment of California Territory and the tensions between the outgoing Mexican government and the incoming American governor. Stephen W. Kearny is the default name of the United States hero unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition . Rancho La Puente Rancho La Puente was a ranch in the southern San Gabriel Valley that measured just under 49,000 acres (200 km ), and remained intact from its establishment in

639-662: The California Trail , accompanied by some members of the Mormon Battalion who had re-enlisted, they found and buried some of the Donner Party 's remains on their trip over the Sierra Nevadas . Once at Fort Leavenworth, Frémont was restricted to barracks and ordered court-martialed for insubordination and willfully disregarding an order. A court martial convicted Frémont and ordered that he receive

710-586: The Guadalupe Pass and then west just south of the current border with Mexico then west to and beyond modern Agua Prieta , before turning northward via the San Pedro River , then west to Tucson . Linking there with the Sonora Road to California established by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774, they marched on a three-day journey north over the desert before linking up with Kearny’s route on

781-629: The Mexican-American War , the article of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which would have provided that Spanish and Mexican-era land grants be honored, was stricken at the insistence of President James K. Polk and Congress. With the onset of the Gold Rush and the arrival of tens of thousands of Americans to California, disputes over rancho lands became significant. Consequently, Congress passed legislation on 3 March 1851 requiring holders of Spanish and Mexican land titles to file

SECTION 10

#1732765817864

852-653: The New York militia as an ensign in 1812. In the late 1820s, after his career was established, Kearny met, courted and married Mary Radford, the stepdaughter of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . The couple had eleven children, of whom six died in childhood. He was the uncle of Philip Kearny , a Union general in the American Civil War who was killed at the Battle of Chantilly . In 1812 Kearny

923-553: The Oregon Trail , Kearny often ordered his men to escort the travelers across the plains to avoid attack by the Native Americans. The practice of the military's escorting settlers' wagon trains would become official government policy in succeeding decades. To protect the travelers, Kearny established a new post along Table Creek near present-day Nebraska City, Nebraska . The outpost was named Fort Kearny . However,

994-499: The Pacific Coast Campaign . In August 1846 and September the regiment trained and prepared for the trip to California. Three private merchant ships, Thomas H Perkins , Loo Choo and Susan Drew , were chartered, and the sloop USS  Preble was assigned convoy detail. On 26 September the four ships left New York for California. Fifty men who had been left behind for various reasons sailed on November 13, 1846, on

1065-466: The Peninsular Ranges crossing Warners Pass to Warner's Ranch . From Warner's the road then ran either northwest to Los Angeles, (via Temecula , La Laguna , Temescal , Chino , La Puente and San Gabriel ) or west southwest to San Diego via Santa Ysabel , San Pasqual and Rancho Peñasquitos . From either of these towns the traveler could continue north by land to the gold fields on

1136-738: The San Gabriel Valley ), the group headed northwest and camped near a large stream (now the San Gabriel River ). Father Juan Crespi noted in his diary that the expedition had to build a bridge ("la puente") to cross the stream because the channel was so miry. That first bridge, and later more permanent bridges across the river, gave the area its name. The Rancho La Puente was created as one of many outlying ranchos operated by Mission San Gabriel from its founding in 1771 at Whittier Narrows and its relocation to its current site within four years. The Mexican government secularized

1207-579: The Santa Fe Trail . When they arrived back to Ft. Leavenworth on August 24, 1845, they had successfully conducted a reconnaissance of over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) in 99 days. "The march of the 1st dragoons was truly an outstanding example of cavalry mobility. " At the outset of the Mexican–American War , Kearny was promoted to brigadier general on June 30, 1846, and took a force of about 2,500 men to Santa Fe, New Mexico . His Army of

1278-630: The "father of the United States Cavalry". The regiment was stationed at Fort Leavenworth in present-day Kansas , and Kearny was promoted to the rank of colonel in command of the regiment in 1836. He was also made commander of the Army's Third Military Department, charged with protecting the frontier and preserving peace among the tribes of Native Americans on the Great Plains . By the early 1840s, when emigrants began traveling along

1349-659: The 1880s. Stephen Watts Kearny Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney ) ( / ˈ k ɑːr n i / KAR -nee ) (August 30, 1794 – October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army . He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American War , especially the Conquest of California . The Kearny Code , proclaimed on September 22, 1846, in Santa Fe , established

1420-554: The American Union: Zachary Taylor , Abraham Lincoln , and Kearny's rival, John Charles Frémont . New Mexico's statehood and self-government were not restored until 1912. Kearny, per orders from President Polk , set out to " conquer and take possession of California " on September 25, 1846, with a force of 300 men. En route he encountered Kit Carson , a scout of John C. Frémont 's California Battalion , carrying messages back to Washington, D.C. , on

1491-627: The American merchant James Wiley Magoffin, who had 20 years of trading experience in Mexico; Kearny was able to comply with the president's wishes, and conquer New Mexico without firing a shot. Kearny established a joint civil and military government, appointing Charles Bent , a prominent Santa Fe Trail trader living in Taos, New Mexico as acting civil. He divided his forces into four commands: one, under Col. Sterling Price , appointed military governor,

SECTION 20

#1732765817864

1562-665: The Army realized the site was not well-chosen, and the post was moved to the present location on the Platte River in central Nebraska. In May 1845, Kearny marched his 1st Dragoons of 15 officers and 250 men in a column of twos out the gates of Ft. Leavenworth for a nearly four-month-long reconnaissance into the Rocky Mountains and the South Pass , "the gateway to Oregon ." The Dragoons traveled light and fast, hauling 17 supply wagons, driving 50 sheep, and 25 beefs on

1633-517: The Californios. In January 1847 a combined force of about 600 men consisting of Kearny's dragoons, Stockton's marines and sailors, and two companies of Frémont's California Battalion won the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the Battle of La Mesa and retook control of Los Angeles on January 10, 1847. The Californio forces in California capitulated on January 13 to Lt. Col. John C. Frémont and his California Battalion . The Treaty of Cahuenga ended

1704-687: The Gila River just east of the Pima Villages . Cooke followed the Anza–Kearny route westward along the Gila to Yuma Crossing where it had its junction with the El Camino del Diablo an old Spanish route reestablished by Mexico from 1828. This established the first southern wagon road from New Mexico to California. This new wagon route became known as Cooke's Road , or Sonora Road , as much of

1775-555: The Pacific Wagon Road ran due west to link up again with Cooke's Wagon Road at Mescal Springs to continue on to Tucson, Arizona , then turned northward to the Pima Villages and Maricopa Wells where it turned westward along the Gila River following it to the ferries on the Colorado River across from Fort Yuma . The Pacific Wagon Road shortened the route still further for travelers. From 1859 to 1861, during

1846-702: The San Diego neighborhood of Kearny Mesa . Kearny Street , in downtown San Francisco, is also named for him, as is a street within Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Camp Kearny in San Diego, a U.S. military base which operated from 1917 to 1946 on the site of today's Marine Corps Air Station Miramar , was named in his honor. Fort Kearny in Nebraska is also named for him. Two U.S. postage stamps relate to Kearny. Scott catalog number 970, printed in 1948, commemorates Fort Kearny, and number 944, issued in 1946,

1917-659: The San Pedro River along an older Spanish trail to the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River which he followed to the Sonoran town of Santa Cruz then turned north on the old Spanish road to Tucson along the Santa Cruz River. Graham's detour, known as Major Graham's Road , would be taken by most of the Forty-niners following Cooke's route the next year, despite its greater distance. From Yuma Crossing

1988-602: The Southern Emigrant Trail crossed the Colorado Desert , dipping south along the Colorado River, into Baja California , Mexico , (avoiding the vast Algodones Dunes to the west and northwest), to follow the waterholes along the Alamo and New Rivers , then northwest into California again across the desert to Carrizo Creek and the oasis at Vallecito . From Vallecito the trail then ran northwest into

2059-726: The Tucson Cutoff route, passing south of Nugent's Pass using Dragoon Pass and the Middle Crossing or San Pedro Crossing of the river instead of the Lower Crossing below Los Alamos. In 1857 following the Gadsden Purchase , as part of the Pacific Wagon Road , a military road being built between El Paso and Fort Yuma, a wagon road was built from Mesilla westward to Cooke's Spring , saving

2130-567: The West (1846) consisted of 1600 men in the volunteer First and Second Regiments of Fort Leavenworth, Missouri Mounted Cavalry regiment under Alexander Doniphan ; an artillery and infantry battalion; 300 of Kearny's 1st U.S. Dragoons (mounted infantrymen) and about 500 members of the Mormon Battalion . With this force, and due largely to the behind the scenes and coordinated efforts of U.S. President Polk , New Mexico Governor Armijo, and

2201-932: The capital at Monterey and petitioned Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado for the Rancho La Puente. The grant was finalized in March with boundaries specified as ".... being on the East bounded by El Chino and San Jose, and on the West by the River San Gabriel on the North by the land of Don Luis Arenas, and on the South by the lands of the Senor [Juan] Perez of the los Nietos and los Coyotes ...." or "more or less" four square leagues, or 17,740-acre (71.8 km ) . Strangely, William Workman, who had been implicated in what

Southern Emigrant Trail - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-399: The capture of Santa Fe. The accuracy of the latter's depiction has been questioned. Actor Robert Anderson (1920–1996) played General Kearny in the 1966 episode "The Firebrand" of the syndicated western television series , Death Valley Days . Gregg Barton was cast as Commodore Robert F. Stockton , with Gerald Mohr as Andrés Pico and Will Kuluva as Pio Pico . The episode

2343-467: The central part of the route passed through what was then the northern frontier of the state of Sonora, Mexico . In 1848, a U.S. Army expedition of 1st Dragoons under Major Lawrence P. Graham marched from Chihuahua to California, through Janos , then westward to strike Cooke's road at Guadalupe Pass . He then followed Cooke's wagon route along the Mexican border region but went farther west beyond

2414-741: The coast via the El Camino Real or over the old Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley and then north by what would later become the Stockton–Los Angeles Road or via the El Camino Viejo . Alternatively they could take ships to San Francisco from San Diego or San Pedro . Subsequently, the distance of the Cooke–Graham route was drastically shortened by the Tucson Cutoff pioneered by John Coffee Hays with

2485-590: The courts on the ground that the Pico grant was not legitimate. The federal government had every right to be suspicious of claims to land especially when grants presumably had taken place following Pico's ascendency to governor and the occupation by the US. People presented claims for land the proceedings of which were not reflected in the government records. At the Los Angeles federal district court, Rowland and Workman won two separate appeals, in 1856 and 1862, and it appeared that

2556-473: The fact that California was initially brought under U.S. control by Commodore Stockton's, Pacific Squadron 's forces. This began an unfortunate rivalry with Stockton, whose rank was equivalent to a rear admiral (lower half) today. Stockton and Kearny had the same equivalent rank (one star) and unfortunately, the War Department had not worked out a protocol for who would be in charge. Stockton seized on

2627-538: The fighting of the Mexican–American War in Alta California on that date. Kearny and Stockton decided to accept the liberal terms offered by Frémont to terminate hostilities, despite Andrés Pico 's breaking his earlier, solemn pledge that he would not fight U.S. forces. As the ranking Army officer, and per orders from President Polk, Kearny claimed command of California at the end of hostilities despite

2698-558: The first U.S. senators from California and was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party in 1856. Kearny remained military governor of California until May 31, when he set out overland across the California Trail to Washington, D.C., and was welcomed as a hero. He was appointed governor of Veracruz , and later of Mexico City . He also received a brevet promotion to major general in September 1848, over

2769-674: The first private grist mill in the county in 1847, mainly concerned himself with cattle ranching and farming, achieving great success. He died in October 1873 and was buried at the El Campo Santo Cemetery established by Workman. His many heirs took over, but over the years land was sold off, including for the creation of the towns of La Puente and Covina during the famed Boom of the Eighties (1886–88). William Workman , whose family accompanied him to California, lived in

2840-724: The four ships brought 648 men to California. The companies were then deployed throughout Upper ( Alta ) and Lower ( Baja ) California from San Francisco to La Paz, Mexico . These troops finally allowed Kearny to assume command of California as ranking Army officer. The troops essentially took over all of the Pacific Squadron 's on-shore military and garrison duties and the California Battalion and Mormon Battalion 's garrison duties as well as some Baja California duties. With all these reinforcements in hand Kearny assumed command, appointed his own territorial military governor and ordered Frémont to resign and accompany him back to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas. On Kearny and Frémont's trip back east on

2911-406: The government was going to take the matter to the Supreme Court. The Civil War years saw the claim in limbo and Rowland hired an attorney to secure a patent. Finally, in April 1867, the lawyer's efforts were successful and the patent patented was issued. With the patent secured and La Puente's owners approaching their seventies, the two decided, in 1868, to formally partition the rancho, leaving

Southern Emigrant Trail - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-411: The grant extended the size of the rancho to the maximum allowed under Mexican land law, eleven square leagues, or 48,790.55 acres (197.4484 km ). When Rowland submitted an affidavit claiming (unbelievably) that Workman was inadvertently left off the earlier grant, Pico officially added Workman as co-owner. After the conquest of the Mexican department of Alta California by the United States during

3053-411: The heated opposition of Frémont's father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton . After contracting yellow fever in Veracruz, Kearny had to return to St. Louis. He died there on October 31, 1848, at the age of 54. He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery , now a National Historic Landmark in St. Louis. Historian Allan Nevins , examining his attacks on Frémont, states that Kearny: Kearny "was simply,

3124-459: The hoof (cattle). Kearny's Dragoons covered nearly 20 miles (32 km) a day and upon their approach to Ft. Laramie they had traveled nearly 600 miles (970 km) in four weeks. "Barely two weeks later Kearny and his troopers stood atop South Pass, held a regimental muster on the continental divide , and turned toward home." Marching his Dragoons down the Rocky Mountains, past the future site of Denver Colorado, then Bent's Fort , then onto

3195-664: The late 1700s as an outpost of Mission San Gabriel until about 1870. By modern landmarks, the ranch extended from San Gabriel River on the west to just west of the 57 Freeway on the east and from Ramona Boulevard/San Bernardino Road on the north to the Puente Hills on the south. All but 40 acres (160,000 m ), which fall within Orange County , are within Los Angeles County . The present communities of Avocado Heights , Bassett , Baldwin Park , San Dimas , Rowland Heights , Hacienda Heights , City of Industry , La Puente , Walnut , Covina , West Covina , and small sections of South El Monte and Irwindale are contained within

3266-432: The law and government of the newly acquired territory of New Mexico and was named after him. His nephew was Major General Philip Kearny of American Civil War fame. Stephen Watts Kearny was the fifteenth and youngest child of Philip and Susanna Watts Kearny. His father, who was of Irish ancestry (the family name had originally been O'Kearny), was a successful wine merchant and landowner in Perth Amboy, New Jersey , before

3337-437: The longer route via the San Diego Crossing. The Pacific Wagon Road then followed Cooke's Wagon Road and the Tucson Cutoff as far as the west side of the Apache Pass. There it made another shortcut across Sulphur Springs Valley to Dragoon Pass , and then down Dragoon Wash to the San Pedro River. The route then descended northward on the right bank of the river to the Middle Crossing of the San Pedro River . From this crossing

3408-497: The missions in the middle 1830s, at which time the mission ranchos passed into private ownership. At the end of 1841, a group of travelers and settlers arrived in the Los Angeles area from New Mexico , now referred to as the Workman-Rowland Party. Led by American John A. Rowland (ca. 1797-1873) and British native William Workman (1799–1876), the expedition contained American, European, and New Mexican members who settled throughout California. Rowland traveled, in early 1842, to

3479-402: The old boundaries of Rancho La Puente. The name "La Puente" originates from the Spanish Portola Expedition of 1769-1770, the first land-based exploration of Alta California by Europeans. In July, 1769 the party came north through "la abra" (later altered into La Habra ), "an opening" or pass through the Puente Hills . Descending down into a valley the expedition dubbed "San Miguel" (now

3550-424: The rancho era are the Workman House (1842 adobe and 1870 brick additions), El Campo Santo Cemetery (1850s with 1919-21 renovations), and a water tower (ca. 1880s)--all on the grounds of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum and the John A. Rowland House (1855), now undergoing long-awaited renovations under the auspices of the Historical Society of La Puente Valley. There is also an 1880s adobe house that

3621-403: The region. By way of Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr. , he was invited as a guest of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1833, Lieutenant Colonel Kearny was appointed second in command of the newly organized 1st Dragoon Regiment . The U.S. Cavalry eventually grew out of this regiment, which was re-designated the 1st United States Cavalry in 1861, earning Kearny his nickname as

SECTION 50

#1732765817864

3692-584: The rest of his army career. Kearny was promoted to captain on April 1, 1813. After the war, he chose to remain in the US Army and was promoted to brevet major in 1823; major, 1829; and lieutenant colonel, 1833. He was assigned to the western frontier under command of Gen. Henry Atkinson , and in 1819 he was a member of the expedition to explore the Yellowstone River in present-day Montana and Wyoming . The Yellowstone Expedition of 1819 journeyed only as far as present-day Nebraska , where it established Cantonment Missouri, later renamed Fort Atkinson . Kearny

3763-402: The shortcut was unwise to use unless the travelers were a strong detachment of soldiers or under military escort by one. Even so, in May 1864, California Volunteers fought a Skirmish in Doubtful Canyon with Apache that tried to ambush them there. Traffic returned to the Pacific Wagon Road route which then remained a primary east–west route in the southwest until the advent of the railroads in

3834-601: The small force of Marines and volunteer militia, suffered defeat. About 18 men of Kearny's force were killed; retreating to a hill top to dry their powder and treat their wounded, they were surrounded by Andre Pico's forces. Kearny was slightly wounded in this encounter, the Battle of San Pasqual . Kit Carson got through Pico's men and returned to San Diego. Commodore Stockton sent a combined force of U.S. Marine and U.S. Navy bluejacket sailors under Capt. Archibald H. Gillespie (USMC), and Lieutenant Edward F. Beale (USN), to relieve Kearny's column. The U.S. forces quickly drove out

3905-473: The small storeship USS Brutus. The Susan Drew and Loo Choo reached Valparaíso , Chile by January 20, 1847, and after getting fresh supplies, water and wood were on their way again by January 23. The Perkins did not stop until San Francisco, reaching port on March 6, 1847. The Susan Drew arrived on March 20 and the Loo Choo arrived on March 16, 183 days after leaving New York. The Brutus finally arrived on April 17. After desertions and deaths in transit

3976-471: The start of the American Revolution (1775–83). Kearny was born in Newark, New Jersey , the son of Philip Kearny Sr. and Susanna Watts. His maternal grandparents were the wealthy merchant Robert Watts of New York and Mary Alexander, the daughter of Major General "Lord Stirling" William Alexander and Sarah "Lady Stirling" Livingston of American Revolutionary War fame. Stephen Watts Kearny attended Columbia University in New York City for two years. He joined

4047-457: The state of New Mexico, which he thought was the flag of Mexico. In its place he hoisted the Stars and Stripes and gave the speech which is summarized on the monument. New Mexico was then a state with a democratically constituted government, which Kearny overthrew, installing in its place under the Kearny Code a military dictatorship. The next year, in 1847, three men pressed the case for the restoration of New Mexico's statehood and its admission to

4118-474: The status of hostilities in California. Kearny learned that California was, at the time of Carson's last information, under American control of the marines and bluejacket sailors of Commodore Robert F. Stockton of the U.S. Navy 's Pacific Squadron and Frémont's California Battalion . Kearny asked Carson to guide him back to California while he sent Carson's messages east with a different courier. Kearny sent 200 dragoons back to Santa Fe believing that California

4189-402: The time of the Butterfield Overland Mail , the stages and other traffic ran over a shortcut between Ojo de Vaca and Apache Pass, over the Peloncillo Mountains through Doubtful Canyon . However following the destruction of stage stations and coaches and the killing of their keepers and drivers at the outbreak of war with the Apache in 1861, this route was abandoned. Favored ambush country,

4260-412: The treaty of capitulation and appointed Frémont military governor of California . In July 1846, Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson of New York was asked to raise a volunteer regiment of 10 companies of 77 men each to go to California with the understanding that they would muster out and stay in California. They were designated the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers and fought in the California Campaign and

4331-520: The two men exact allotments of hill and valley land, so that Rowland mainly occupied the northern and eastern part and Workman the western and central portions. Rowland, who returned to New Mexico in 1842 to bring his family back to California, built an adobe on the north side of San Jose Creek the following year. A dozen years later, he razed the structure and built, across the creek, a brick Greek Revival two-story house (the John A. Rowland House ) for his second wife, Charlotte M. Gray. Rowland, who built

SECTION 60

#1732765817864

4402-473: The two were the wealthiest individuals in Los Angeles County during the first half of the 1870s, during which the first growth boom experienced in the region took place. When the economy turned sour, however, and the Temple and Workman bank collapsed, Workman, who had mortgaged most of his portion of La Puente for a loan from Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin of San Francisco, lost everything and took his own life in May 1876. Workman's house and 70 acres (280,000 m )

4473-428: Was also on the 1825 expedition that reached the mouth of the Yellowstone River. During his travels, he kept extensive journals, including his interactions with Native Americans. In 1826, Captain Kearny was appointed as the first commander of the new Jefferson Barracks in Missouri south of St. Louis . While stationed there, he was often invited to the nearby city, the center of fur trade, economics and politics of

4544-439: Was claimed to be an assassination attempt of New Mexico's governor during a period in which the independent Republic of Texas plotted to annex most of that territory, was not included in the original grant, although a document was issued by Alvarado at the time of the grant, extending the rights and privileges of use of the rancho to Workman. This document is in the collection of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum but

4615-612: Was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the War of 1812 in the 13th Infantry Regiment in the U.S. Army. On 13 October 1812 during the Battle of Queenston Heights , Kearny and Lieutenant Colonel Winfield Scott led a charge, which took the British position; but the enemy retook it, when the "untrained militiamen" did not reinforce the U.S. Regular's which had taken the objective. "Humiliated, Kearny and Scott were forced to surrender;" wounded and prisoners, he and Scott spent several months in captivity before being paroled. But this experience would "harden" his prejudice against militias for

4686-401: Was directed to follow Kearny with wagons to blaze a new southern wagon route to California. On the plaza in Santa Fe, a monument marks a fateful day. Gen. Kearny had entered the city after routing the militia of New Mexico under the command of Governor Armijo and entered a city then undefended but very hostile. He marched to the plaza in front of the Palacio Real, and took down the flag of

4757-443: Was known as the Gila Trail . One month later, Colonel Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon Battalion with wagons Kearny could not take across the mountains of New Mexico, followed a route south along the west bank of the Rio Grande from where Kearny had left the river, to a point just north of what later became the site of Fort Thorn . There Cooke left the Rio Grande, establishing a wagon road that reached far southwest through

4828-415: Was never submitted to the Land Commission to determine the validity of a Rowland and Workman claim to the land. After Workman, as captain, and Rowland, as lieutenant, of an American and European military contingent helped Pio Pico defeat Governor Manuel Micheltorena in an armed standoff at Cahuenga Pass near Los Angeles in February 1845, Pico issued a new grant to Rancho La Puente. Made in July 1845,

4899-431: Was secure. After traveling almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) his weary 100 dragoons and most of his nearly worn-out mounts were replaced by untrained mules purchased from a mule herder's herd being driven to Santa Fe from California. On a trip across the Colorado Desert to San Diego Kearny encountered marine Major Archibald H. Gillespie and about 30 men with news of an ongoing Californio revolt in Los Angeles . On

4970-496: Was sold back to the Temple family by Baldwin in 1880—today's Workman and Temple Family Homestead is the 6-acre (24,000 m ) remnant of this property. Baldwin retained ownership of thousands of acres of Workman's former holdings until his death in 1909, though some land, notably for the town of Baldwin Park , was sold. In 1911, Baldwin's estate sold off more La Puente land for the subdivision of North Whittier Heights, now Hacienda Heights . The remaining historic sites left from

5041-495: Was to occupy and maintain order in New Mexico with his approximately 800 men; a second group under Col. Alexander William Doniphan , with a little over 800 men was ordered to capture El Paso , in the state of Chihuahua , Mexico and then join up with General John E. Wool ; the third command of about 300 dragoons mounted on mules, he led under his command to California along the Gila River trail. The Mormon Battalion, mostly marching on foot under Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke ,

#863136